HARMONY — With under three minutes left, a group of young non-starters on Seneca Valley's football team saved the Raiders from a shutout by Bethel Park Friday night at NexTier Stadium.

Trailing 27-0, the non-starters entered the game and found a rhythm, scoring two touchdowns before the game ended.

Backup quarterback Caden Smithco threw his first touchdown pass to Michael Beneski with 2:47 left.

Bethel Park decided to run the ball with a little over two minutes left, and Seneca Valley's defense appeared to find fresh legs, too.

An opportunistic fumble recovery by the Raiders defense led to the second touchdown, as Smithco threw to Malik Talaat with 1:07 left.

Seneca Valley coach Ron Butschle said he wanted to get his younger players some playing time, and he was pleasantly surprised.

“I like when they get an opportunity to play on Friday nights,” Butschle said. “And, I really like when they shine.”

Smithco finished with 4-of-5 completed passes for 30 yards and 15 yards rushing.

“He's a great kid, and he's a competitor,” Butschle said. “He went out there and did a great job.”

Starting quarterback Gabe Lawson also finished with a productive performance. Although scoreless, he completed six of nine for 53 yards. He also ran for 28 yards.

Lawson's lone error came at the end of the second quarter, where Seneca Valley was gaining ground. From the Raiders' own 14-yard line, Lawson maneuvered the offense down to Bethel Park's 35-yard line.

Then he threw an interception that turned into a 68-yard return for the Black Hawks' second score. That interception was a dagger, according to Butschle.

“The interception at the end of the half was kind of a momentum killer,” the coach said. “I mean, you go in 7-nothing at half, maybe it's a little bit of a different story.”

The starting offense also had some longer drives, but they could not find a way to close those drives. The Raiders failed to get within 20 yards of a touchdown until those final three minutes.

“I think eventually we settled in a little bit, but we didn't get any points on the board,” Butschle said.

Bethel Park's playing style also posed problems to Seneca Valley's defensive game-plans, according to Butschle.

“Their downhill run game is very good,” he said.

Butschle said part of the problem was not being able to stop Bethel Park on third-down conversions.

Two of Bethel Park's scoring drives were 17 and 15 plays long. The Black Hawks had a combined 17 first downs.

“Our job is to get off the field on third down. We didn't,” Butschle said. “Really, that wears you down.”

He said part of what makes Bethel Park a good team is their grit and a little surprise, which led to holes in the Raiders' plans.

“I think Bethel Park is one of the top teams in 6A, and we're young,” Butschle said.

Bethel Park 7 7 6 7 — 27

Seneca Valley 0 0 0 14 — 14

First Quarter

BP — John Doleno 4 run (John Gummo kick), 2:15

Second Quarter

BP — Doleno 68 interception return (Gummo kick), :13

Third Quarter

BP — Tanner Volpatti 6 run (kick failed), 7:27

Fourth Quarter

BP — Anthony Chiccitt 8 pass from Volpatti (Gummo kick), 10:32

SV — Michael Beneski 7 pass from Caden Smithco (Tanner Sherry kick), 2:47

SV — Malik Talaat 5 pass from Smithco (Sherry kick), 1:07

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Bethel Park, Tanner Volpatti 25-85, John Doleno 8-40, Tiger Burkes 106, Anthony Chiccitt 2-3, Luke Mattola 2-2. Seneca Valley, Gabe Lawson 13-28, Matt Stanger 3-18, Jake Mineweaser 2-15, Cadem Smithco 3-15, Noah Mancuso 3-8.

Passing: Bethel Park, Anthony Chiccitt 8-14-111-1. Seneca Valley, Gabe Lawson 6-9-53-1, Caden Smithco 4-5-30-0.

Receiving: Bethel Park, Austin Lewis 3-47, Luke Mattola 1-33, Tanner Volpatti 2-17, David Opferman 1-12, John Doleno 1-2. Seneca Valley, Noah Mancuso 3-22, Jake Stebbins 2-20, Tyler Smith 1-12, Luke Smith 1-11, Michael Beneski 1-7, Jake Mineweaser 1-4.